The push for Autonomy continues!

The plan is that SWARM will be dancing -on its own- at Burning Man at the end of August.

That means GPS and inertial measurement systems will work with control software and dance software to…. well… DANCE!

Here’s an abbreviated update that we recently sent to Lady Bee:

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Late March:

Finished design of standalone remote controls and purchased PCBs and parts (and other things like replacement SPU domes). Finished new Illuminator boards: now 4/Orb (up from 2/Orb). Retrofitted sound modules with noise reduction and code improvements. Worked on new central computer (7800 model), including kernel and code experiments, daughterboard retrofit. Also some work on Mother Node (central control) software.

April:

“Remote party” to finish assembly and programming of six remote controls. New illuminator code: now individually addressable, smoother color fades, hue/value mode beyond pure RGB. Considerable work on new Aggregator architecture (subsystem that combines GPS location data with incoming control stream).

Helped to build out electronics lab in the Box Shop so we can geek out amidst the Flaming Lotus grinding and welding. Charlie Gadeken will accept work in lieu of some rent. Also organized gear to some extent, and purchased replacement/extra tools and consolidated tools/spare parts in a dedicated toolbox.

Purchased hardware for, and worked on mounting and integrating inertial navigation units and shaft encoder sensors.

Installed and tested new illuminators. Final touches on new remote code.
Installed Aggregator on test Orb.

Major engagements at Yuri’s Night, Coachella Festival and Maker’s Faire:
good gigs for many things. Field-tested new remotes and new Aggregator.
Good visibility and substantial funding for project, not to mention very positive team-building experiences! Discovered finite lifetime of steering sensor bearings (will retrofit with new design). These performances were a major incentive towards autonomy: human remote control is only a halfway measure; the Orbs should and will drive themselves.

Early May:

Full speed ahead towards autonomy: the long push to give the orbs the ability to follow trajectories (whether pre-choreographed or generated
in real time.) Removed old central computers to prepare for upgrade.
Obtained new DC/DC converters to power new computers.

SWARM rolled on in to the 2008 Coachella Music and Arts festival and had a great time!

You can find media mentions on Hack-a-Day and Wired.

Photo sets on JDV’s Flickr, Lee’s blog here and here, and Marc’s site! And especially our SWARM In the Media wiki page.

We brought the orbs out to Yuri’s Night.

People really liked them.

Read about it in Engadget, CNet and Laughing Squid. :-)

SWARM is a kinetic art work consisting of multiple semi-autonomous spherical robots (”Orbs”) that roll under their own power. Each has a spherical shell 30 inches in diameter: roughly waist high to an adult. Orb shells were computer-designed and cut from a flat plate of aluminum, then welded together to form an intricate sphere. Inside each Orb are batteries, motors to control speed and direction, as well as an audio system and color LED illumination, all under the command of a powerful on-board computer with wireless connectivity to other Orbs and a central computer called the Mother Node. Orbs roll without external wheels or actuators using the weight of the batteries as a ballast. Motors move the ballast off-center and cause the Orb to roll in that direction. Tilting the ballast away from the roll axis allows the Orb to steer.

SWARM is built to explore the aesthetic possibilities and the emergent behavior of artificial systems. As a first step, Orbs are remote-controlled by human operators, but each Orb’s sounds and color illumination is algorithmically generated in response to location and motion. Each Orb has sophisticated navigational sensors including GPS, accelerometers, and solid-state gyroscopes. We are progressing towards sophisticated navigational algorithms, exactly like those used in spacecraft, that allow each Orb to determine its location and trajectory with high accuracy. From this, we can explore emergent and cooperative behavior like flocking as well as new possibilities in machine choreography. SWARM is not a simulation. SWARM is a platform for the art of the 21st century.

We are grateful for funding and support from the following organizations: Burning Man, the Coachella Festival, and a talented group of volunteer artist-hackers.

Read More

Our home page, http://orbswarm.com
wiki (the entire project is open-source) http://wiki.orbswarm.com
blog http://blog.orbswarm.com

Jon Foote has been playing with Blender and made this…

He writes: I had a few minutes to play with Solidworks, which is pretty awesome, from my experience with the first tutorial.

I took the opportunity to export the shell model into VRML, which can be read by Blender. Blender is an open-source 3d modeling/rendering program, which is free and pretty powerful, and runs on all OSs. Get it here: http://www.blender.org/ (The learning curve is pretty gnarly, so I can’t recommend it totally without reservation.)

Blender lets you add light sources and render things (which may be possible in SW but I don’t think so). So I did a little experiment with internal lights (attached jpg). It’s wrong in several ways (no internal chassis) but it’s enough to get the idea. I may try some different light positions if I get some time (ha ha).

I will check all this into SVN so others can play. You can do animations and move things around if you know what you are doing. Look in the media/blender subdir
-J

I know we haven’t been keeping you peeps updated nearly enough. Let me make it up to you… we’re going to (at least) THREE shindigs soon!

First up, we’re going to Yuri’s Night at NASA Ames (http://sf.yurisnight.net/) Saturday April 12th from 2pm-2am!! They’re so excited to see us that we even got nice billing on some recent invitation emails. Groovy!

Next… we’re performing at this little music festival thing in SoCal. You’ve probably never heard of it. It’s called Coachella. Yessire! That’s right, 6 shiny metal orbs will be bounding around at the Coachella Music Festival (http://www.coachella.com/) Friday April 25th-27th! And us swarm-herders get to rub elbows with a bevy of music and art greats!

There’s talk about the orbs rolling to other festivals but it hasn’t been totally lined up yet so I don’t want to set the bar too too high. :-)

If SoCal is too far to go to catch orby delights, you’ll ALSO find us at Maker Faire (http://makerfaire.com/) Saturday May 3-4 in San Mateo.

Keep em rollin’!
Lee for SWARM

From Coreyfro:

While NASA is still bragging about teleoperated robots such as DEXTRE, DARPA continues to push the boundaries on autonomous robotics.

That’s because NASA nerds (or, well, two of us here at Ames, and technically, I’m a contractor) make autonomous robots for fun in our free time!

Auto choreographing, music composing, and light show generating orbs of gleaming aluminum!

Come see Orb Swarm at Yuri’s Night!

Legs? PFT! Legs are SOOOOO Precambrian era!

There is a tentative agreement for SWARM to attend the Coachella music festival this April  25-27th in Southern California!

More info as it becomes available!

Here’s some SWARM Glamour Shots that Mark Alexander shot. It’s mid-August at the Box Shop

The machine art community in the Bay Area is one of the most vibrant scenes in the world. We’ve benefited enormously from our talented friends and colleagues in the area. Now it’s time to give back: we will be appearing on two consecutive nights at the SomArts gallery, to benefit two very worthy causes. Here’s the scoop:

Who: Those mavens of lipstick and accelerants, The Flaming Lotus Girls

What: A Gallery Show Fundraiser for the FLG’s!

When: Friday, November 30th, 2007, 7pm-1am

Where: Somarts Gallery 934 Brannan Street, San Francisco

Why: Because YOU want to see more super giant fire art!

Come join the hot ladies (and gentlemen) of the world-famous Flaming
Lotus Girls fire art group for an evening of art, flame and fabulous
outfits.

Over 40 different photographers and a handful of local artists have
donated their art for a silent auction benefiting the FLG’s, so they
can continue their quest for world domination through stainless steel
and kerosene.

The rest of the world deserves to see The Serpent Mother in all of her
168-foot majesty. Come enjoy the all the art and make this and other
amazing projects possible!

See more at http://www.flaminglotus.com

And also this the very next night:

The Blue & Green Ball - fundraiser for Todd Blair
Saturday, Dec 1st
SoMarts Gallery
934 Brannan Street
SF, CA
8pm - 1am
$10

Todd Blair is an artist extraordinaire, producer, curator and teacher
at California College of the Arts who needs your help. Todd was
injured in a tragic forklift accident in September at an arts festival
in Amsterdam where he was working as part of the Survival Research
Labs team. His condition remains serious and his recovery long. Todd
is still in recovery at a hospital in Amsterdam.

The “Blue & Green Ball” fundraiser for Todd will be held Saturday,
December 1st at SomArts Gallery, 934 Brannan Street, San Francisco,
CA. The event will take place from 8pm – 1am, entry fee is $10.

Entertainment will include DJ Vordo, Gibson Pearl Bellydancing, Art by
the Flaming Lotus Girls, Electromechanical, robotic, and interactive
art and more! There will also be a Live Auction of selected Fine Art,
Talent, and Collectibles. As part of this event, there will be a Shopping
Bazaar- including lots of unique crafts and art. Food and cocktails will
also be available.

Event website: http://srl.org/shows/events/todd/